Headlines! The most critical component of your copy. Lousy headline – lose the reader!
While engaging content is a great way to capture attention, provide value to your potential clients and establish your brand positioning, the headline makes it all happen.
Your headline is your first and only opportunity to capture the reader. In fact, most people won’t even read past the headline unless it captures their attention and piques their interest.
At only 10 – 12 words long, the headline may be the shortest part of your copywriting, and yet it is the most daunting to write. It needs to grab our attention, be catchy, arouse curiosity, make a promise, and create urgency.
Copywritting is an art but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it. Here are my 5 power headline types that will make your job easier.
#1 How To – How to articles are great for getting our attention. And who doesn’t want attention? Use them anywhere; ‘how to pack for an overseas vacation’ or ‘how to improve your health’. People are always looking for easier or better ways of doing things and ‘how to’ headings are very effective at doing this. To take your heading to a higher level, add a number and watch what happens. For example: ‘how to pack for an overseas vacation in less than 1 hour’.
#2 Lists – Lists are a very popular headline type. Think of headings like ‘Top 10 summer vacation destinations’ or ‘Top 5 shows on Netflix right now’ or ‘Top 5 shows on Netflix right now’. You’ve clicked on something like this before, right? These headings are clear and direct, usually leading to informative and easy to read content.
#3 Ultimate – The ‘ultimate’ headline is all over the internet: ‘The Ultiimate Way to be Successful at Work’, ‘The Ultimate Guide to Bali’, ‘The Ultimate Way to Get Fit and Improve Your Life’. This type of heading attracts attention by indicating there is some sort of secret or ‘ultimate’ way of doing something, and people can’t help but click for fear of missing out.
#4 Common mistakes – These types of headlines are also popular on the internet. You definitely would have seen these before: ‘5 ways to avoid common wedding planning mistakes’ or ‘how to avoid these 3 common beauty mistakes’. These work in a similar way to the ultimate headlines, making people click to see what they might be doing wrong and how they can fix it.
#5 The Question – The final headline type is one sure to get attention. ‘Have you bought your World Cup Ticket? Posing a question as the headline is a simple technique, but is sure to drive traffic when people can’t help but click to find out the answer!
Take Away
It’s common knowledge; less than 1% of all ads are clicked on. If your headlines are not earning the clicks they deserve, I can show you ‘how to build the ultimate attention-grabbing headline that converts your customers into raving fans every time.’
Photo by Mat Reding on Unsplash
